A Star in the Night
by Spotsylvania
Summary: Set in Season 1 right before Bill's tribunal and takes places in Dallas. Faced with Bill's antics and a cruel magister, Eric and Pam are at a loss of what to do. But the sheriff has a run-in with a talented NHL player for the Dallas Stars, who also happens to be a witch. The two vampires recruit Damian Ward to help them deal with the magister, but a twist gets thrown in their plan


A talented right winger who had just been traded to the Dallas Stars, Damian Ward was thrilled to finally be on a playoff-contending team. He had won the NHL Calder Trophy the year before as rookie of the year for the Carolina Hurricanes and was regarded by many as the next hockey superstar. The 2014 preseason had ended the previous night and the start of the regular season against the Blackhawks was only a couple days away.

At the moment, the 23 year-old Boston College alum was at a pub enjoying some dinner. He finished his meal and went outside to his car to drive home. Just as he got to the driver's side door, he felt a whoosh of air. He turned around, but didn't see anything, "Damn wind..."

Damian unlocked the door and had hand on the handle to open it when he was rammed against his own car. A man with a wild look in his eyes had him by the throat. He struggled against the grip as the man showed fangs and went to bite him in the carotid artery. Thinking quickly, Ward put his hands over the vampire's face to block the bite and stomped on the man's foot. The grip on his throat slackened and he used it as an opportunity unleash a powerful right cross at the man's head. The blow staggered the assailant, and Damian went right after him, clocking with two more rights to knock him out. He called the police on his cell phone before collapsing onto the ground in a sitting position.

"Jesus, what the hell was that guy thinking? I know vampires exist, but this is ridiculous..." he mused as he tried to collect himself.

It wasn't long before the police arrived and took his statement before carting away the unconscious vampire and injecting silver into him to make sure he didn't resist when he woke up. After all of that, Damian drove home.

It was on the road back to his house that he had his second unexpected encounter of the night. A phone call from one of the police officers who had responded to his attack unsettled him, "So let me get this straight, the guy who attacked me was destroyed?!"

"Yes, Mr. Ward. We found him in his jail cell, or what was left of him anyway. Just a bunch of blood and guts. It's really disgusting how vampires die. We're investigating it now, but the guess is that the so-called vampire sheriff of the area probably heard about your attack and carried out his own brand of justice. And you didn't hear this from me, alright? Just be on the watch for anything suspicious and call us if you see anything. We've already contacted the FBI and they're consulting with us on the case," the officer warned him.

Damian sighed, "Alright, thanks for that. Have a good night."

The police officer wished him the same and the conversation ended. The star hockey player was pissed off, "Great, now I'm caught in the middle of a goddamn vampire shitstorm. How nice..."

* * *

><p>Finally, he got home and settled in by plopping on the couch, trying to think of anything other than vampires. Needing something else to focus on, he watched some tape of the Blackhawks defense to decide how he was going to attack it and get shots on goal. Several minutes later, there was a knock on his door. He went and opened it, "Can I help you with something?"<p>

A man with blonde hair and blue eyes stood at the threshold, "Are you Damian Ward?"

"And what's it to you?" the Stars forward replied in a suspicious tone.

"You were attacked tonight by an out-of-control vampire tonight. I wanted to tell you that the problem has been handled and you don't have to worry about it happening again," the stranger told him.

"Wait, you must be that sheriff who offed the guy in his jail cell. Look man, I appreciate your intentions and your devotion to your species' laws, and I use that term loosely, but I'm not one to support vigilante killings. If I wanted you to deal with it, I would have asked you to. Some of us still believe in law and order, strange as that may seem to your kind. Never come to my house again," Damian went to slam the door shut.

Before he could so, the sheriff had used his speed to zip past him and enter the house.

"I didn't know breaking and entering was considered par for the course. Look, I have a game to prepare for, and I would appreciate it if you left," a pissed-off Damian was starting to lose it.

Eric Northman grabbed hold of the player's shoulders and started to glamor him, "You were never attacked. You tripped and fell. You believe vampires are good and have a lot of respect for them."

The Stars player frowned, "Yeah, I'm not doing that. Now get out!" he surprised Northman with a tremendous blast of energy, sending him flying out of the house.

He immediately went to work enchanting the house so vampires couldn't get in. The wizard slumped down on the couch after having done so and sighed deeply, "God, I hate doing that... Guy just couldn't mind his own damn business."

Sheriff Northman was amazed at what Damian had just done, "So he's a bona fide warlock. Hmm, interesting..." He sped off.

After collecting himself, Damian went back to studying tape of the Chicago defense before going to sleep for the night.

* * *

><p>Eric went back to Fangtasia and sat on his throne, trying to think of what to make of the encounter he had just had.<p>

"What's eating you?" a blonde woman with dark eye make-up approached him.

"You know that hockey player who got attacked a while ago? It turns out he can't be glamored..." the Norseman told her.

Pamela Synford de Beaufort frowned, "Wait, he's a witch?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to do anything about it?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think he poses a threat. He just wants to be left alone."

"You realize that if the Authority finds out you killed a fellow vampire, then you could be in deep shit..."

"I'm well aware of that. I know Bill has his hands full with that right now. I'll figure something out," Eric replied firmly.

Pam nodded, "I know you will. What is going on with Bill right now?"

He sighed, "The Magister scheduled a tribunal tomorrow night at the floodplain near the Trinity River outside Dallas. I wish there was some way I could stop it..."

She had an idea, "Why don't you ask the wizard to go with us? That way, we can learn more about his intentions and maybe he'll give us enough power to bail Bill out."

The sheriff shook his head, "He made it pretty clear he didn't want me anywhere near him. Hell, he even put a hex on the house so I couldn't get back in. He's powerful, Pam..."

"Then let me ask him. A little persuasion never hurt. After all, it's one of my strengths," the co-owner of Fangtasia suggested.

"You can go ahead if you want, but don't come crying back to me when it doesn't work," Eric shrugged.

Pam hissed at him slightly, "He'll be here tomorrow night. I guarantee it..."

* * *

><p>The next day, Damian and the rest of the Stars had an intense practice at Reunion Arena for about three hours in the afternoon. No one on the team knew his secret, and he was very careful to hide any emotions having to do with the previous night's events. After the practice was over, he changed into his street clothes and left the locker room. He was walking down a hallway when a blonde woman walked out of a room and tailed him.<p>

Damian turned around, his witch sense noticing something was off about her, "Care to explain why you're following me?"

Pam smirked, "Are you familiar with the name Eric Northman at all?"

The warlock put two and two together, "Is that the guy who came to my house last night? That vampire sheriff or something like that?"

The sultry vampire nodded, "That would be him. He didn't exactly handle things the way he should have. I'm sorry about that...

He paused for a moment, "I take it you know him. What is he to you? Brother, husband, friend?"

"Husband, ha, no. We own the nightclub Fangtasia. My name is Pam Swynford de Beaufort, and you are Damian Ward?" she answered him.

"Yeah," he affirmed before continuing, "So you're a vampire too... Look, I can't be glamored, and I don't really give a crap about whatever your kind does. Just stay away from me, alright?"

She agreed, "Fair enough, but I came to ask for your help. Eric and I, we have a mutual friend who is in some trouble with the Authority. From what I've heard, you have great power as a witch, and that could really help."

Damian sighed, "And why would I help you? There's no possible reason for me to get involved in whatever mess your friend is in."

Pam thought for a moment, "If the Authority finds out that Eric killed a fellow vampire, they'll punish him. And they might come after you as well. They wouldn't hesitate in killing you or doing god knows what else."

The Stars player was impressed, "That's a pretty good line of reasoning. You have my attention for now."

The vampiress took a breath before explaining things, "Our friend, Bill, killed another vampire in defense of someone else, and he's going to be punished for it at a tribunal tonight. I don't know what it will be, but he shouldn't be punished at all. The Magister presiding over it is a real jackass..."

Damian was puzzled, "So you want me to go with you and somehow keep the Magister at bay? How exactly do you expect me to do that when there will be a lot of other vampires there? I'd be a sitting duck."

"To be honest, I just thought we'd go and figure things out once we're there. We won't know how it's set up until we're there," Pam replied.

"That sounds like a great plan..." Damian rolled his eyes.

She ignored his sarcasm, "I do know the tribunal is somewhere on the Trinity River floodplain. Is that helpful?"

He shrugged, "It helps, but without knowing how a tribunal is set up, there's not really much I can plan out."

She replied with an idea, "Eric might know more about that. Meet me at Fangtasia tonight."

The right winger raised a brow, "Why not right now? I can cover you with my Stars sweater and ride in my car until we get there."

"That's pretty risky. I don't know..."

"Oh come on. You have my word.

Pam sighed, "Alright, but keep in mind that I get very angry when I come into contact with light."

Damian nodded, "Duly noted. Now let's go."

He covered her with his uniform and had her wait until he could drive his car up. Then he helped her dash outside and get in the trunk. She yelped a little as the sun burned her skin a bit, but she was relatively unharmed. With that done, Damian drove off to Fangtasia with Pam in tow.

He got Pam inside with little trouble. She gave him back his jersey, "Thanks for doing that. I'll go get Eric."

Damian waited for a minute or two until a pleasantly surprised Eric made his way out, "So Pam tells me you agreed to help us?"

He nodded, "I will, but we need a plan. I have no idea how a tribunal works and what this magister is like."

Eric sighed, "Yeah, the guy is not the most moral in the world. He's going to treat Bill without regard for the fact that he was defending someone else from attack. As far as the tribunal goes, a large part of the local vampires show up in a deserted area, such as the floodplain, so it's a big spectacle."

"So we have to figure out a way to neutralize the magister in some way. Sounds like fun to me," the wizard grinned.

"Yeah, but how the hell are we going to do that with a huge crowd? Every vampire there will sense you're a witch and be salivating to get your blood," Pam brought up a good point.

"True, but you didn't think I'd agree to do this if I didn't have some sort of plan? I've been practicing the magical arts for many years, and I have a temporary masking spell that I can use to hide my presence as a wizard," Damian replied, keeping his grin going.

"Of course you do," Pam rolled her eyes.

"Before we discuss anything further, we should bring Bill in on this. I'll get him here in the early evening," Eric concluded the matter.

Later in the early evening with darkness setting in, Pam sat across from Damian, watching him drink a glass of orange soda, "You not a fan of alcohol?"

Damian laughed, "I drink on occasion, but not usually. I'm surprised you're asking that, considering blood is your primary drink."

"Honey, it's just that you're at a bar of a nightclub and you're not drinking alcohol. It just seems weird," she replied.

"Such are many things in life. Anyway, what would you have me do to the magister? Kill him, kidnap him? I'm not going to do anything violent unless it's in self-defense or defense of another. You know, moral high ground and all that," he took another swig of his drink.

"I see... Hopefully it won't come to that, but you have to be ready in case if it does. Do you have the stomach to kill someone?" the vampiress put him on the spot.

"To be honest, I don't know. And I'd prefer not to know, but I just have this gut feeling that things tonight won't end well," the Calder winner sighed.

Before Pam could respond, Eric returned with Bill in tow. The troubled vampire looked at the warlock with curiosity, "So you're the one who's agreed to help me. Damian, right?"

"Yes, and you must be the Bill Compton I keep hearing about. From what I understand, you've kicked up a hornet's nest as of late. I will do what I can to keep the Magister at bay, but let's get one thing straight. If you or any of your buddies try to drain me of my blood, I will not hesitate to lay the smackdown on your ass. I'm not going to be a human blood bag or claimed by anyone. Do we understand each other?" Damian got straight to the point.

Bill was taken aback a little by the resolute tone in the witch's voice, but kept his composure, "Understood, but how are you going to keep the others at the tribunal from sensing you as a wizard? Do you have a spell for that?"

"He does. I asked him that already. You know, we really should get there early, so we can size up the crowd and the terrain," Pam urged them.

"Then let's go," Eric wasted little time.

* * *

><p>The four of them arrived at the floodplain a couple of hours early for the tribunal. There were a few other vampires there, but otherwise desolate. Damian carefully examined the terrain and picked Eric's brain about how tribunals were set up and run to help formulate a plan.<p>

As the time passed and the start of the tribunal got closer, Bill was starting to become nervous, "Damian, I haven't heard one word from you about a plan yet. Do you even have one?"

Ward looked over at him, "What's the standard punishment for a vampire killing one of his own kind?"

Compton shuddered just a bit, "Being locked inside a coffin with silver chains. I can't go through that again..."

Damian nodded, "Then I have a plan. We'll simply wait for you to be locked in the coffin after the tribunal's over. Once the crowd is gone, we can take out the Magister and his cronies who are guarding it. I open the coffin, and you're free. Simple as that."

Eric let a hint of a smile crease his face, "I like the sound of that..."

"Me too," Pam licked her lips.

Bill shook his head, "This better work, or I promise you... You get the point."

"Yeah, I get it. Let's just focus on the task at hand," Damian answered.

The tribunal soon began with the large crowd watching the magister mete out punishment to various vampires before finally getting to Bill, "Sheriff Northman, bring your prisoner."

Eric did as he was told, ushering Bill to face his judgment.

"So, Bill Compton, you stand accused of murdering Longshadow. What do you have to say for yourself?" the magister inquired.

Bill took a quick look back at Damian before replying, "I did kill him, but it was in defense of another. He was attacking a woman-"

"That is immaterial. I care little for our kind attacking humans. They are nothing but food... Try again," the magister cruelly interrupted.

"How can you say something like that?!" an incredulous Bill almost lost it.

The inquisitor motioned toward a pair of vampires guarding a coffin, "I sentence you-"

"Wait! Longshadow was also stealing from Fangtasia. Getting rid of him protects Eric's property. Isn't that a good thing?" Bill panicked at the sight of the coffin.

"Idiot!" Damian murmured under his breath, pissed that Bill had just made an easy plan more complicated.

"Interesting that you put it that way, even if it is to save your own skin. Still, you did kill one of us..." the magister motioned for the coffin to be put back.

Pam and Eric looked on nervously as Damian did his best not to give himself away.

The Authority's inquisitor sat back in thought for a few moments before motioning a couple of his other cronies to come forward.

The next sight Bill, Damian, Eric, and Pam saw shocked them all.

A young redheaded girl of not more that seventeen or eighteen years of age was dragged out and laid on the ground. She was quivering and saying things to herself out of fear.

The four of them could tell she was human right away. Damian, realizing what was about to happen, wanted so badly to strike at the magister with one of his spells, but the presence of the crowd caused him to check himself.

"I have decided on an alternative punishment for you. Since you took a vampire's life, you will create a new one. Drain her, and then later on you will lie with her in the ground until her transformation is complete," the magister's smarmy voice made Damian's blood boil.

Bill wasn't about to give in so easily, "If you're going to torture anyone here, do it to me! She doesn't deserve this."

"Torture, I can show you torture if you like..." the inquisitor leered.

"No. Sorry, I spoke out of turn..." a weak-willed Bill gave in.

"Quit stalling and get to it," the impatient magister ordered him.

Bill knelt down and was about to glamor her to ease the pain when the magister interrupted him again, "Glamoring is not allowed. I'm getting tired of this. Now do as you're told!"

Damian thought he recognized the girl from somewhere, but he couldn't nail it down. He wanted so badly to stop this from happening, but he knew he had to wait until the odds were more in his favor.

"Please don't... I'm a good girl," the redhead pleaded with the vampire.

Bill sighed, "Forgive me..."

He grabbed hold of her, fighting her desperate attempts to break free, and bared his fangs.

The poor girl screamed as he bit down into her neck and started to drain her of blood. Eric and Damian watched in horror while Pam was starting to get aroused by the scent of blood, baring her own fangs. She soon retracted them when she found herself on the receiving end of a piercing glare from the warlock.

The young woman's screams became weaker and weaker as Bill drained more of her blood. He let out a roar before he continued feeding. The other vampires in the crowd, drawn to the sight, moved in closer to watch.

It was not long before the girl went limp, drained completely of her blood. She was dead...

Eric and Damian were in complete shock that the situation had gone so awry. The crowd started to gradually disperse and head home as the minutes went by, leaving Bill with the recently deceased, the magister and his cronies, and Damian, Pam, and Eric.

"Since you are the sheriff of this region, you can stay while Bill lies with the human until she is fully vampire. You and you will have to leave," the magister pointed at Damian and Pam.

"It's alright, magister. This will go by far quicker if the two of them help Bill dig the grave. I can personally vouch for them," Eric made an excuse to keep them there.

Fortunately, the magister bought it, "I suppose I can grant you this one request, since you have served me so well. Alright, start digging."

Pam and Damian had no choice but to start digging the hole with Bill. After a few hours, it was complete.

Bill dumped the girl in the bottom and laid beside her. Wanting to lull the magister into a false sense of security, Eric had his two companions cover the hole with dirt.

The magister sat back on his car where he issued his verdicts, "Now we wait. You two can go home now. Wait, I sense something..."

Damian's spell was starting to wear off. The inquisitor quickly detected his magic, "Ah, you're a witch. I think I'll have you put into custody for safety purposes," he bared his fangs.

This was exactly the moment Damian had been waiting for. His magic started to flare up, "I'd love to see you try, moron. Bring it!"

The magister, realizing he'd been lured into a trap, lunged at him while his cronies attacked Pam and Eric.

The wizard just ducked out of the way and placed his hands on the magister's shoulders, "Let's see. An ice spell, no, I think fire will do quite nicely..."

The magister, held at bay by Damian's powerful grip, screamed in agony as the warlock plunged fire into his body with a vicious spell. His insides started to shake violently until the fire ignited his entire body, causing it to explode into a fountain of blood.

Meanwhile, Pam and Eric dispatched of the thugs with relative ease, leaving blood and guts all over that small section of the floodplain.

The blood-soaked trio looked at each other, flush with success.

"That was pretty fun, honies. If I do say so," Pam's happy drawl emerged.

"Yeah, but what about the girl? She going to have to become a vampire..." Eric responded grimly.

"I may be able to do something about that. There is an ancient ritual, the rumor of which was passed down through many generations of my family. It is a very powerful spell that requires me to funnel much of my blood into the vessel's mouth, obviously the girl in this case. If it works, she will be restored to life as a witch, bound to me in a link much like the one between you two as Maker and Child. Her transformation to vampire is not complete yet, so there is still time if we hurry. No offense to either of you, but I think she will find life as a witch less violent than if she were a vampire," Damian offered an idea.

Much to the witch's surprise, Eric agreed, "Dealing with Bill is a pain in the ass already, so him with newborn would be even worse. I think your idea could work."

Pam also nodded, "You seem like a guy who would be a good person for taking care of her, unlike Bill. So I can go with that."

"Then allow me," Damian twisted his hands and waved them about in the air. The dirt covering the grave flew up in the air and settled a bit of a distance away.

The wizard looked down in annoyance at a shocked Bill lying alongside the girl, "Your cowardice did this. Because of your inability to stick to the plan for getting you out of the coffin, this innocent woman had to suffer."

Bill felt an invisible force gripping his throat as he was lifted into the air and out of the grave. He struggled to get free as Damian held him in the spell, "Now I have to turn the girl you killed into a witch so she can live a halfway decent life. Now get out of here before I do something I might regret..."

The vampire didn't need to be told twice, especially with the magister's killer having a look of pure ice in his eyes. He skulked off, feeling defeated and humiliated.

Eric went down into the hole and picked up the girl. He brought her out and laid her body at Damian's feet, "It's all on you now."

The young Stars right winger looked down at the girl with sadness. An innocent life taken, one that he now had to restore. He took a deep breath and used a small knife to make a cut on his shoulder. The wizard then began chanting the words for the spell, softly and with purpose. After what seemed like an eternity, the chanting was complete. He winced as the blood began to flow out of his shoulder and into the redhead's mouth.

Eric and Pam watched with interest as Damian held the girl's mouth open to let the blood in. The color literally drained from his skin and face as he poured a lot of blood into her. He kept this up for about five minutes before he finished. Struggling to stay conscious, the witch waited to see if his ritual would work.

The beautiful girl seemed to be destined to stay dead when nothing happened. Pam and Eric were getting ready to ask Damian to give up when the girl gasped and started coughing violently. She was unwieldy as the Stars player used his hands to steady her. The redhead was frightened as she took in her surroundings and saw Damian looking over her, "What, what happened?"

He smiled as he reassured her, "Everything's alright. My name is Damian, and this is Pam and Eric. We're here to help you."

She checked her teeth, "Am I a vampire?! I don't feel any fangs...," then she put her hand over her heart and felt it beating, "I-I'm still human?"

"About that... None of this was intentional. That moron who murdered you, Bill, was originally supposed to plead guilty and accept being put in a coffin so we could get him out later. Unfortunately for you and for us, he threw a wrench in our plan..." Damian explained to her.

"Then how am I alive right now, and still human?" the redhead looked at him with uneasiness.

He looked back at Pam and Eric before turning his attention back to her, "I wish I could have saved you earlier, but there were too many vampires in the crowd. I would have been killed. I'm sorry for that... There were only two options to consider. One was letting you get turned into a vampire, and I wasn't going to have that. Trust me, that life of violence and bloodlust is not something you would want. The only other way was to give you some of my blood as a ritual, and I am of the magical sort."

The girl guessed what his last sentence meant for her, "I'm a witch?"

He nodded, "Yes, and that way you can at least live a halfway normal life."

She didn't know what to say, "I-I..."

Pam knelt down alongside Damian, "What's your name hon?"

"Jessica, Jessica Hamby," the red-haired girl replied.

"Let's get you home, alright?" the sultry vampiress suggested.

"No, wait... I can't go back there. I have no idea how to control my powers, and my father..." Jessica looked down.

Damian followed her glance downward and saw bruises on her arm, "Son of a..."

Pam noticed it too and looked back at Eric, "I don't think her going home is such a good idea." The sheriff nodded and looked at the wizard and his witch charge, "You should take her with you. At least for tonight anyway. We'll have to figure out what to do later. The Authority will be hunting us when they realize the magister's dead."

Jessica had a hopeful look in her eyes as she took Damian by the hand, "Please, could you let me stay with you?"

He agreed, "It's the least I could do. But I do play for the Dallas Stars, so you'll have to come with me on road trips. Either that or Pam and Eric can keep watch on you while I'm gone."

The two vampires looked uncomfortable with that suggestion. Damian quickly rephrased, "We can always talk about that later. I have the home opener tomorrow night against the Blackhawks. I'll have a seat for you at ice level."

The new witch had a sparkle in her eyes, "You play for the Stars?"

"Yep, right wing. Why?"

"It's just that I've never met anyone famous before. This is all new to me, you know, being a witch and everything."

Damian could see that Eric was getting impatient, "Why don't I take you to my house now? Let's get out of this place."

"Yes, let's," Pam was happy to get out of there.

The two vampires and two witches walked off the floodplain, headed back to Dallas.


End file.
